ME Bench

2 board bench
worked up to 325

5 board press
1x5 325
3x5 345
1x5 355

Inverted rows to sternum
1x15

Inverted rows to collar bone
3x10

Today was a pretty good session. I had a bit left in the tank, but 325 is up 10lbs from the last time I did 2 board, so I ended it there. I hit some big pr's in the 5 board. 355 is a 30lb pr in that exercise for 5. Hopefully my bench will start moving somewhere again.

RE Lower

Over and unders
1x10
KB Swings
1x10


Squats
1x10 bar
1x5 135
1x10 195
1x10 175
1x10 195
1x10 175
1x10 195

Zercher deadlifts off of pin at knee level
2x10 105
3x8 105

Chest supported rows
3x10 100
1x15rp 100
Branford press
3x8 65
1x12rp 65

Had to do this today since I'll be on vacation from Thursday through Sunday. Squats went pretty well. Zercher deadlifts were killer again today. Really felt it in my mid/upper back and quads today. Decided I'm going to try something a bit different on my last set of assistance exercises. Those branford presses are torture. Keep moving forward.

ME Lower

Leg swings
1x10 per way/leg
Band stepdowns
1x10/leg

Safety Bar squats (Assuming 45lb bar, I know it's not)
work up to 1x3 245

Deadlifts against green bands
worked up to 1x3 275

Reverse hyper
4x10 120

Abz

This was a very deceptive session. I finally found a safety squat bar in the area on craigs list, so we bought it. I know it's going to correct a lot of problems. My mid/upper back was so dead after squatting that deadlifts felt slow. I couldn't budge 325 off of the ground (it should have been a pr, but oh well). Keep moving forward.

Upper back

Scap pushups
1x10
Rear delt
1x10 10/side
Torque press
1x10/side 20/side
Band stepdowns
1x10/side

Bent over rows
5x8 185
Bench press
2x10 185
3x8 185

Strict pullups, green band assist
1x10
1x8
2x7
Standing cable flyes
4x10 15/side

Barbell tri extensions
4x10 70
Barbell curls
4x10 70

That was it for that one. Legs were still a bit sore from the previous session, so I didn't do anything for them today. I figured out today that all that bicep pain that I have been having the last few weeks was from some micro tears in my right bicep, who would have thought. Just more incentive for me to work them so it doesn't happen again. One of my training partners, Phillip Daniels from the Redskins, tore his ACL last week. Keep him in your thoughts for a speedy recovery.

RE Lower

Over and unders
1x10/side
Ankle Mobility
1x10/side
Square dance
1x2/side
Wall squat
1x8

Squat
1x10 bar
1x5 135
1x10 155
1x10 165
1x10 175
1x10 185
1x10 195

Zercher deadlift off of pins at knee level
5x10 95

Chuck V rows
4x10 140
Branford Press
3x10 65
1x10 65/bar

Today went pretty well. Squats are up 20 lbs from the previous 3 weeks, so that is promising. Zercher deadlifts were evil, but I love them. I noticed after the Chuck V rows that my gym got a chest supported row again finally, so that's what I'll be doing. Branford presses were harder than hell. I've never felt an exercise hit my delts/shoulders so hard. The last set I got 5-6 reps with 65 and just finished up with the bar. I was pretty tired after all that, so I'll probably do lunges next session.

ME Upper

Some cardio stuff
1x a long time

Scap pushups
1x10

Flat bench
2x8 bar
1x5 135
1x3 185
1x2 225
1x1 245
1x1 275
1x1 295
1x1 305

4 Board press
3x5 315

Chuck V Rows
3x15 150

Decent session today. The rack height on the bench was a little low at the gym, so that sucked. 305 is a 10 lb improvement from 3 weeks ago. I am going to tinker with bringing the bar a bit higher (between the nipples and sternum) that I have been. I think my raw grove matches my shirted grove, hence a shitty raw bench. We'll see. More training to come...

ME Lower

Windmills
1x8 30/side
Band stepdowns
1x10 green band
Leg swings
1x10/leg each way

Squat
2x5 bar
1x5 135
add reverse light bands (about 45 lbs off at the bottom)
1x3 225
add belt
1x3 315
1x1 365
1x1 405
1x1 455

Reverse green band band deadlift, conventional
worked up to 1x3 455

45* back raises
3x20 10

Various abs

Back felt kind of crappy from last week but once I warmed up it wasn't too bad. I hit the number I wanted to on squats, so I'm happy with that. Onwards and upwards...

Upper back

Scap pushups
1x10
Rear delt
1x10 10/hand
Torque press
1x10/side 20/side
Band stepdowns
1x10/leg green+purple band

Bent over rows
5x6 185

Strict pullups
1x9 green assist
3x8 green assist
Standing strict cable flyes
4x10 15/side

Barbell tri extension
5x10 60
Barbell curl
5x10 60

Front squat
3x5 135
1x5 155

Today was a decent session. Had to play golf with the boss yesterday, hence no lower training session yesterday. I flared my elbows more on the rows today, which brought the bar to my sternum. Felt it a bit more in my rear delts/upper back like I should. I'd like to thank the elitefts exercise index: bench press for tips on altering form to actually hit the upper back better. Everything else went pretty decent and I'm ready for some heavy squatting on Sun.

ME Upper

Scap pushups
1x10
Rear Delt
1x10
Torque Press
1x10/side 25

Floor press
1x10 bar
1x5 135
1x5 185
1x3 225
1x1 245
1x1 275
1x1 285

Schwab's
5x5 205

Inverted rows
3x15

Good session today. Next week will be the next time I come back to flat bench, so we'll see how things have improved. My lats seem a bit sore now, probably from actually using them on the floor press and inverted rows. I was training at the regular gym, so I didn't have access to boards. I figured I'd try something different. I made sure that on the schwab''s that I kept the stress on my triceps. I got to borrow the elitefts exercise index Bench Press tape. It's a really good tape. Here are the things I'm going to work on. I'm going to make sure I'm benching metal militia style. Right now I feel as if I'm trying to do a hybrid straight line/metal militia. Hopefully that'll add some lbs to my bench. Also, on my assistance work for my upper back I'm going to try to flare my elbows out some in order to put more stress on my upper back. I've been doing most movements with my elbows tucked which stresses more lat (according to the video). We'll see how that goes. Keep moving forward.

Team Video

Here's a video of our team. It has some training footage and some meet footage.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wCdzyZRrkmM

ME Lower

Eric is out of town, so I met a teammate to train at gold's gym.

Squat
2x6 bar
2x5 135
1x5 185
1x5 225
1x5 245
add belt
1x5 275
1x5 315
1x5 325

Rack pulls, bar at knees against doubled mini bands
1x3 bar
1x3 135
1x3 225
1x3 275
1x3 285
1x3 295

Ghetto reverse hyper
5x10 mini bad

various abs
5x10


Was a pretty good session. I had a little more in me on the last set of squats, but hit the numbers that I wanted to hit so I shut it down. During the last 3 sets of rack pulls I felt like my spine was going to explode. Did some abs and ghetto reverse hypers and called it a day. Next week for a 1 rm and we'll see how things are progressing.

RE lower

Over and unders
1x10/side
ankle mobility
1x10/leg
Square dance
1x2/way
Band stepdowns
1x10/leg

Squat
1x10 175
1x10 155
1x10 175
1x10 155
1x10 175

GM, closer stance
1x10 155
RDL
1x10 135
1x10 185
3x10 205

Reverse band bench pulls
5x10 doubled purples
DB overhead press
5x10 50's

Walking lunges
5x12 25/side

Pretty good session today. Squats felt good and I'll be working up to a new weight next week. RDL's and GM's continue to be difficult. I find that a closer stance good morning is way better than doing them in my squatting stance. My shoulders felt a bit more stable during the overhead presses today, so I'll probably move up in weight the week after next. Another week almost down.

ME Upper

Scap pushups
1x10
rear delt
1x10 10/side

Bench, pinkies on rings
2x10 bar
2x5 135
2x3 185
1x2 225
add 2 board
1x1 225
1x1 275
1x1 295
1x1 315

5 board press
5x5 315

Triangle grip pull downs
4x15 140

Pretty good training session. I got a massage yesterday and she made a big positive impact on the amount of pain/discomfort in my pec/bicep. Floor press next week. Then PR time.

ME Lower

Band stepdowns
1x10/leg green band

Leg swings
1x10/leg

Squat, raw
2x5 bar
2x5 145
1x5 195
1x5 235
add belt
1x5 285
1x5 305

Deadlift, conventional, against green bands
1x3 135
1x3 225
1x3 275
1x3 315

Reverse hyper
5x10 55/side

Today was a good session. Squats felt pretty good. Next week I'm hoping to get 315-335 x 5. Felt comfortable pulling conventional. I felt the band tension hit all at once right above my knees. I'll probably do GM's, RDL's or something like that next week. I'll be keeping the weight on the reverse hypers the same. End of the first week on the new cycle. I feel I'm hitting a lot of things I'm not good at, so I'm curious to see how this affects my strength.

Upper back

Scap pushups
1x10
Rear delt
1x10
Torque Press
1x10/side 15
Band stepdowns
1x10/side green band

Bent over rows
4x6 185
DB Bench
4x10 90's

Strict pull ups, shoulder width
4x8 green band assist
Flyes
4x10 15/side

Tri extensions, straight bar
4x10 60
Curls, straight bar
4x10 60

calf raises on machine
3x10 220

Felt a bit tired this morning, so I did a little less. Legs still sore from last session. I think with the addition of flyes and curls that my bicep/pec will act up less. Some eating followed by some rest until next time.

RE Lower

over and unders
1x10

ankle mobility
1x10 each foot

square dance
1x2 each way w/10lb held out in front

wall squat
1x5

Squat
1x10 135
1x10 145
1x10 155
1x10 165
1x10 175

RDL
1x10 135
1x10 185

Good Morning
1x10 135
2x10 155

Seated row, prone, shoulder width grip
4x10 165
overhead db press
4x10 50/hand

walking lunges
3x10 25/side

Today was a pretty good training session. Squats were decent and I obviously displayed my ability to do reps. I'll do a wave next week with 175 and 155 or 165. So next week will end up with 3 sets of 175 and 2 of the other. After that I'll pyramid up to a new weight. I'll probably continue like that for a while. I stopped RDL's after the second set because the bar was too slippery and I didn't have my chalk. I was really unstable during the overhead pressing. Onwards and upwards.

ME Bench

No rest for the weak...

Scap pushups
1x10
Rear delt raises
1x10 10lb/hand

Bench, pinkies on rings
2x12 bar
2x5 135
1x5 185
1x3 225
1x1 225
1x1 245
1x1 275
1x1 285
1x1 295

3 board press, pinkies on rings
2x5 245
1x5 255

Inverted rows
4x14

Reverse hyper
3x20 50lbs

Everything felt pretty good. Since I'm going raw for a while, I decided to heed Wendler's advice and bring my grip in a little bit. 295 felt light and I'm pleased especially considering it's only 3 days post meet. More work on my board presses. Inverted rows felt the best they have in a long time. I hope that they keep getting better. The first step on the road to elite has been taken.

Resotration/Conditioning

I went on an Xvest (30lbs) walk and then later went on a much longer walk with no Xvest with Alli. Considering picking up a sled. We'll see if I feel like blowing that kind of money.